Guillaume Apollinaire // Alcools

French limited, second numbered edition in this Paul Bonet binding design: one of 1020 on Plumex (after 1040 on Heliona /1944), ours bearing the number 1550.  

“Alcools” is a wonderful collection of poems of which the famous «Le Pont Mirabeau »: 

Sous le pont Mirabeau coule la Seine 
Et nos amours 
Faut-il qu'il m'en souvienne 
La joie venait toujours après la peine 

As well as “Marizibill “, which Leo Ferre interpretated magisterially: 

Je connais des gens de toutes sortes 
Ils n'égalent pas leurs destins 
Indécis comme feuilles mortes 
Leurs yeux sont des feux mal éteints 
Leurs coeurs bougent comme leurs portes 

Phillippe Labro also used this poem for the titles of at least two of his books (“Je connais gens de toutes sortes” and “Des feux mal éteints”) 

This copy was previously owned by the American author and literary critic John Ivan Simon (1925–2019), with his name penned in the upper fore-corner of the front endpaper—similar to the inscription in our offering of “Le poète assassiné” by Apollinaire, which is part of the same collection and binding. If you are interested in purchasing both books, please contact us. 

Leaves gently toned, spine insolated, darkening to end papers and dust-staining to edges of text-block; Moderate edgewear to toned boards, with some scuffing to fore-corners of panels and spine ends. In very good condition otherwise.